What is a Physician of Record for an Ohio BWC Injured Worker and do I need one? Dr. Larry VanSuch, a chiropractor and work injury doctor in Columbus, Ohio explains:
As an injured worker in the State of Ohio you typically have what is known as a P.O.R. and this stands for Physician of Record. A P.O.R. is your main doctor…he or she will do the following:
- File all the necessary paperwork for you.
- File your Medco-14 forms, which is a form that helps you get paid if you miss work as well as identifying any work restrictions.
- File your C9’s (treatment request forms) for whenever treatment is needed.
- Coordinate with other treating doctors you may be seeing.
- Other responsibilities.
Do I need to Switch my Physician of Record if I want different treatment from another doctor?
If, for example, your physician of record is giving you medications and you’re growing tired of taking them (because they seem to make you sick and perhaps are not working), you can still see another doctor, simultaneously, such as a chiropractor and receive their treatments to try and fix your condition by a different means.
You don’t need to switch your physician of record (P.O.R.); you can still keep your existing doctor and get treatment with this new doctor (at the same time) providing they practice a different specialty. In other words, you can’t see two chiropractors at the same time, or neurologists, orthopedists, etc.
Don’t Check that Box!
On the C9 form (which we have plenty of in our office), we will simply ‘not’ check the box indicating we are the physician of record. Instead, we will leave this box blank to let the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation (BWC) know we are not the injured worker’s physician a record, but instead, one of their Treating Physicians.
Treating Physician vs. Physician of Record
By being a Treating Physician instead of your Physician of Record, injured workers can now have more than one doctor treat their condition at the same time with an Ohio BWC work injury claim. So if you are wondering if you can have more than one doctor involved in your case, the answer is ‘yes’ but unfortunately this is one of the more misunderstood situations with the Worker’s Compensation claims in the State of Ohio.
For some reason, many injured workers are led to believe they can only have one doctor treat their condition at a time. Perhaps this is because having a work injury is all new to them and they aren’t sure what questions to ask. This can lead them to many times feeling trapped between wanting to leave their existing doctor and taking a chance on finding another one that may even be less helpful.
Good News for Ohio BWC Injured Workers
Now, injured workers change their Physician of Record to us all the time but this isn’t always necessary. Again, you can still get care in our office and keep your existing doctor if you want and we will simply become one of your Treating Physicians.
So, this is good news if you are an Ohio BWC Injured Worker…you don’t have to wait to get in to see us as we can see you during normal business hours, perhaps even today. And since you don’t need a referral or have to switch physician of record (unless you want to), we can begin your road to recovery on your very first visit.